Vitter Again Urges Mayor Landrieu to Focus On Murders, Not Monuments

(Metairie, La.) – David Vitter today sent a letter to New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu urging him to unite our community by focusing on murders, not monuments. The letter is in response to a racially charged email blast by Mayor Landrieu this week.

A copy of Vitter’s letter from today is below.

September 4, 2015

The Honorable Mitch Landrieu1300 Perdido StreetNew Orleans, LA 70112

Dear Mitch:

A friend forwarded me your mass email, attached.

Really, Mitch?

I have said many times, and I repeat again, that I think you should unite our community by focusing on murders, not monuments.

114 of our fellow citizens have been murdered in New Orleans already this year. Lester Johnson was gunned down in his driveway in New Orleans East on Wednesday morning.

Rather than taking strong, bold action on the out-of-control crime problem, however, you send out a hateful email to create a distraction and play the race card. It attacks and insults not just me, but countless concerned citizens who feel as I do. That's not leadership, it's pure political cynicism.

Wake up, Mitch. The monuments aren't murdering our family members and neighbors. Focus. Lead. Unite. Track down those who are.

Sincerely,

David Vitter

A copy of Landrieu's email from September 3rd is below:

"Yesterday, a panel of New Orleans residents on the Vieux Carré Commission took a big step towards removing the Liberty Place monument.

However, at the same time, Senator David Vitter and David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klansman, doubled down on their efforts to keep this monument, fighting to preserve the last vestiges of white supremacy rather than honoring the great diversity that defines us today.

Tell David Vitter and David Duke that this monument has no place in New Orleans.

The history of the Battle of Liberty Place monument goes back to 1874, when a group of radical ex-Confederates launched a coup against the racially-integrated Reconstruction government of Louisiana, forming a militia and storming New Orleans. The mob attacked a force made up of the integrated Metropolitan Police force and state militia and killed police officers and innocent bystanders.

In 1886, private groups erected this monument to honor the members of the White League that were killed in the Battle of Liberty Place — not the police officers or the innocent bystanders.

Why David Vitter and David Duke are defending this monument is beyond me.

Our state has always been a place that honors the lives of law enforcement officers lost in the line of duty. But this monument stands in direct contrast to those ideals.

The ideals represented in this monument never belonged in a city as great as New Orleans, where diversity is our lifeblood. It’s time we chart a future of togetherness, not division.

Sign on now to add your support in removing this monument erected in honor of those who killed police officers.

We have to make our voices heard over the noise of opponents like David Vitter and David Duke.